Otto Liman von Sanders

Liman von Sanders, Otto (ôˈtō lēˈmän fən zänˈdərs) [key], 1855–1929, German general. In 1913 he was made head of the German military mission to Constantinople to reorganize the army of the Ottoman Empire. His appointment caused a diplomatic crisis between Germany and Russia, which suspected German designs on the Ottoman capital. A compromise was reached when the Germans agreed that Liman become inspector general of the army, a post with less extensive authority. In World War I, Liman commanded Turkish armies in the Gallipoli campaign (1915–16) and was given (1918) supreme command in Palestine, where he was defeated by Allenby. He wrote Five Years in Turkey (1920, tr. 1957).